An object may be exposed to one or more ambient environmental conditions that can damage or otherwise adversely affect the object. A party, such as an owner or other having an interest in the object, may wish to determine whether the object was so exposed. Some goods may be particularly susceptible to damage from external forces or environmental extremes. For example, glassware, electronic instruments, mechanical parts, and the like may be damaged if dropped or subjected to excessive acceleration. Similarly, electronics, liquids, and pharmaceuticals may be harmed if exposed to temperatures and/or humidity outside of predetermined ranges.
Further, damage to a good may not be apparent simply by inspecting the good. Exposure to forces or extremes in temperature may not cause visually perceptible changes, but may affect the operating characteristics, effectiveness, and/or longevity of the good. For example, the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical or an electronic component may be altered if exposed to extreme temperatures. Similarly, electronic boards in a device may become unseated from connectors if such device is subjected to excessive acceleration, as may occur from being dropped or jostled.
In addition, when a customer reports to a seller that the good was already damaged upon receipt by the customer, it may be difficult to ascertain when such damage occurred, and who is accountable for such damage. In particular, it may be difficult to confirm whether the damage to the good occurred when the good was in storage before sale, while the good was in transit, or after the recipient received the good.
Monitoring devices have been developed that can monitor the environmental conditions to which the good is exposed during storage and/or shipment. Typical monitoring devices include a processor, memory, and one or more sensors. Such a device may include an accelerometer to measure any forces acting on the device, an environmental sensor that measures, for example, the temperature and/or humidity in the environment surrounding the device, a chemical sensor to detect the presence of certain chemicals, and the like. Such a device may be affixed to a package to be shipped, and a processor in the device periodically polls the one or more sensors to acquire therefrom measurements associated with forces acting on the package and/or the environmental conditions. The processor then records such measurements and a timestamp of when such measurement was acquired in the memory, creating a log that can later be analyzed to determine if the good was subjected to extraordinary forces and/or environmental conditions.
In some cases, the monitoring device may include a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) transceiver. To transmit the measurements and timestamps recorded in the memory of such monitoring device to a computer or another device for further analysis, the processor transfers such data from the memory to a buffer memory associated with the RFID transceiver and directs the RFID transceiver to transmit the data from the buffer memory. An RFID reading device receives such data and provides the data to the user. Such data may be analyzed to determine if the package encountered extraordinary forces and/or environmental conditions. The capacity of the buffer memory of an RFID transceiver may be substantially less than the amount of data to be transmitted. If a large amount of data must be transferred, the processor must divide such data into segments, and repeatedly fill the buffer memory with data associated with a segment and direct the RFID transceiver to send the data in the buffer. Repeatedly filling and sending segments in this manner decreases the overall communications rate of the RFID transceiver.
Other types of communications technologies such as WiFi or Bluetooth may be used that efficiently transfer large amounts of data. However, such technologies typically require expensive components and/or a battery with sufficient capacity, which may add to the bulk and/or cost of the monitoring device, and thus may not be commercially feasible.